The Minstrel’s Ballad: Sphene’s Burden

Game8 has gone with Hamkatsu’s strategy.

English

【Virtual Shift 1 (Wind)】
　MT-group stack　　　DPS chains
　TH chains　　　　ST-group stack
【Virtual Shift 2 (Earth)】
　D1/MT 　ST/D2 　■ 2 towers　↑：MTRH：↓
　D3/H1 　H2/D4　■ Drop rocks　↑：M　↓：T
【Weighty Blow】Start NW, go CW
【Absolute Authority】
　D1/MT　　　　　 D2/ST 　※ E/W Flares make
　D3/H1　(stack)　D4/H2　　　pairs after
【Virtual Shift 3 (Ice)】
　□　　　　　□　　↑：Use north bridge
↓□　　□　　□↓　↓：Use south bridge
↑□　　□　　□↑　　※ side players return first
　   ↑  ↓  ↓  ↑　　　Tethers：M→T→T→T

Japanese

【ヴァーチャルシフト1回目】
頭割MT組 　 　鎖D
　鎖TH 　 　頭割ST組
【ヴァーチャルシフト2回目】
D1/MT 　ST/D2 　■塔2優先度：上:近接>タンク>遠隔>ヒラ:下
D3/H1 　H2/D4 　■岩設置：前：近接　後：タンク
【グラビティブロウ】→左上からコの字
【アブソリュートオーソリティ】
D1/MT 　 　 　D2/ST 　※近い距離減衰同士で孤独処理
D3/H1 　頭 　 D4/H2
【ヴァーチャルシフト3回目】
　南氷：外側→上の橋 　内側→下の橋
東西氷：上側→下の橋 　下側→上の橋
■南寄り4人が近い橋で先に戻る→北4人は自分が使った橋で戻る
■線取：①D1D2→②MTST素受け→③④MTST無敵受け

Markers

There are two sets of markers you may encounter.

Hamkatsu’s markers

The markers are where the party stands during Coronation. They are also colour-coded to indicate where each beam should be placed (i.e: between the 1A, 2B, 3C, and 4D markers).

XIVLauncher WaymarkPresetPlugin positions

{
  "Name":"Sphene EX (Hamkatsu)",
  "MapID":1017,
  "A":{"X":100.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":81.375,"ID":0,"Active":true},
  "B":{"X":118.625,"Y":0.0,"Z":100.0,"ID":1,"Active":true},
  "C":{"X":100.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":118.625,"ID":2,"Active":true},
  "D":{"X":81.375,"Y":0.0,"Z":100.0,"ID":3,"Active":true},
  "One":{"X":118.625,"Y":0.0,"Z":81.375,"ID":4,"Active":true},
  "Two":{"X":118.625,"Y":0.0,"Z":118.625,"ID":5,"Active":true},
  "Three":{"X":81.375,"Y":0.0,"Z":118.625,"ID":6,"Active":true},
  "Four":{"X":81.375,"Y":0.0,"Z":81.375,"ID":7,"Active":true}
}

“Braindead” markers

These are the fixed position markers for Radical Shift in P2. Each party member has an assigned marker that intersects all three platforms, allowing players to resolve Radical Shift with minimal adjustments.

XIVLauncher WaymarkPresetPlugin positions

{
  "Name":"Sphene EX (Braindead)",
  "MapID":1017,
  "A":{"X":108.7,"Y":0.0,"Z":86.7,"ID":0,"Active":true},
  "B":{"X":104.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":94.0,"ID":1,"Active":true},
  "C":{"X":108.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":98.0,"ID":2,"Active":true},
  "D":{"X":112.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":102.0,"ID":3,"Active":true},
  "One":{"X":91.3,"Y":0.0,"Z":86.7,"ID":4,"Active":true},
  "Two":{"X":96.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":94.0,"ID":5,"Active":true},
  "Three":{"X":92.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":98.0,"ID":6,"Active":true},
  "Four":{"X":88.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":102.0,"ID":7,"Active":true}
}

Timeline

(Credit: u/ExiaKuromonji)

Frequently Asked Questions

[Markers] How can you manually place the fixed position markers in the right place?

There are no visible markings at the start, however, the final arena has lines drawn on the ground that mark the three different platforms (see the attached image).

Once the fight has been cleared, you can then place markers at the appropriate places manually and save them for the next round.

[Aethertithe] Do the tanks have to stand in front for the beams?

No, the beams split their damage between all players hit, with no consideration to who is in front.

[Absolute Authority] What is the "AA cheese strat"?

"AA" is shorthard for "Absolute Authority".

The Flare markers in Absolute Authority have very lenient falloff damage, so much so that with heavy mitigations, the entire party can stay stacked together for the whole mechanic.

This strat is more popular in English PF parties, and is done by starting at the NE corner (as per Hamkatsu), but instead of turning into the center of the arena, the whole party just follows the north wall and ends up stacking in the NW corner.

Note that Absolute Authority will not normally be resolved this way in RF.

[Laws of Ice 2] When should the tanks use their invulns?

The stack marker will pulse six times before resolving.

The tanks should use their invulns at the fifth pulse to cover the last two hits.

Troubleshooting

[Authority Eternal] How are we dying to the P1 enrage?

The mechanic sequence after the Virtual Shift (Ice) phase goes:

Prosecution of War (tankbusters)
Royal Domain (raid-wide damage)
Legitimate Force (half-room E/W cleaves)
Royal Domain (raid-wide damage)
Authority Eternal (P1 enrage)

This whole sequence lasts a minute- however, this is interrupted, and goes straight to Authority Eternal when the boss goes below 2.0% HP.

The danger is that Authority Eternal is pushed, but the party has weakened members, or doesn't have the ability to burst down the boss's HP to 0.1% before Authority Eternal resolves, leading to a wipe.

For that reason, if the party was struggling earlier, it may be worth considering holding damage or building resources for Authority Eternal. Also note that if the boss's is pushed below 2.0% HP in the middle of a mechanic, the mechanic will complete before starting Authority Eternal.